Harvey was brutal to Classic Cars & Tools!

Hi! darn it’s been a while since I’ve blogged about anything:(  I’m finally able to sit at my computer to report on what’s been going on!!  On August 27th, hurricane Harvey hit us hard here in Houston and other areas as well. We and many others were not ready for what this hurricane had in store, not to mention the Core of Engineers letting flooding waters from the levees! If they had put out a warning, we could have lessened the blow greatly!:(

We had gone to bed and yes, there was wind, rain, but the water hadn’t risen, but at 3:00 am, Gary got up to go tinkle, then he rushed to tell me to get up  as the water was only 6″‘s from coming in our home! The garage already had a foot as it sits lower. It had risen more than 10′ in only a few hours!

I rushed out to get my TR6 up as high as I could, but the 67 Mustang, I could only get up on jack stands which I thought would be good enough, but the water level kept rising and quickly! I was jacking the Mustang up with a floor jack in a foot of water; I soon gave up and went back in the house to help getting documents, titles, etc.  However still thinking the water was going to quit rising~ ugh~

The garage on the left is where my TR6 and 67 Mustang were. This pic I took as we were being rescued by FEMA rescuers, the water level still kept rising and this was after 4 days. We stayed in the upstairs apartment to the right which is about 14’ high. We stayed thinking the water was going to go down, but found the levees were still letting out tremendous amounts of water and would continue to do so for some time:( We were running a small generator; running low on fuel, food, quite miserable, and after 4 days of being trapped, it was time to leave:(

Earlier on, I put on a wet suit from my scuba diving days, and made my way into the garage, at this time the water level was still low(ha!) The highest it made it was mid-door of my TR6, the Mustang was totally submerged eventually.

In the newest garage, after the nasty toxic waters had receded after 2 long weeks, the water level was revealed having engulfed nearly everything!

Looking to the right of the pic below around the small drill press, the water level made it to about 60″s. I imagine the content of the water was compounded with other nasties like oil, transmission fluid, Varsol, old engine oil from oil changes, then the content of the flood water itself.

Our next door neighbors (upper part of the pic) home was even lower than ours! When FEMA rescuers showed up, I had to swim to the metal gate to open it as the rescue swimmer didn’t know how to open it. Once opened, he maneuvered his boat in to our stairs and we loaded up essentials and puppy.

Chewie, at the time of the flood was about 6-7 weeks old. She’s a mini-Australian Shepherd. It was tough for her and us as being trapped in the little 400sq.ft apartment was very trying, especially with a playful puppy. Gee she was so cute, well, still is! 😉

As we were rescued, we were about the only ones left in the neighborhood. It was an eerie feeling and the days were long and nights were longer! We were able to help the rescuers knowing where flooded cars were and fire hydrants. The current is not clear in the picture, but it was strong and flowing.

Our subdivision is known for the hundreds of peacocks, guess they were OK.

One is probably wondering, “what about your home Dne’?”  Totaled, everything was lost to the sludgy, sewer flood water!

Presently:

It’s now December 12, 2017, we’ve been in our new home for about 5 days. The area from where we once lived, still looks like a battle zone as there have been many tear downs, many homes are gutted and lying in wait as people battle with their insurance companies so they can get on with restoration or whatever decision they feel is best. Only a few are rebuilding as quickly as they can so they can move to their homes once again~ very few, but even so, the area looks desolate and they will live in isolation until others can move back in. We lived in the upstairs apartment for a long time, I slept with a 9mm and 45mm which lay on my night stand/s. We didn’t sleep well at night.

It’s funny, or uncanny, but Gary’s friend from his geology working days, that guys girlfriend had a nice house for sale. After having gone many places with a realtor, none of the homes compared to this home! tears here of happiness here! 😉

THE NEW HOME OF CLASSIC CARS AND TOOLS! a lot of work to do!

Our new home, and new home for Classic Cars and Tools is out of the flood plane and further to the country just outside of NW Houston in Cypress, Tx., The garage is much larger, but in desperate need of modifications and not ready to receive my 3 classic cars as it roof leaks badly when it rains. Not that rain water would hurt them! 😉

I hope to make it look like this, similar, not exactly. I found repro gas pumps on ebay~ dreaming here;)

Ah, all will be OK, though it was bad, there are other scenarios in the world with not so good turn outs. Please sign up for updates from yours Truly!

dne’ 😉